Remembrance
by aboywhowantedtobegod
Summary: Every hero leaves a legacy, and Mara Rose, the great granddaughter of Ruby Rose, is only just beginning to learn about hers. Rated K for some death/violence mentions. Cover image from google images


Ever since her first day, climbing off the giant transport onto the cobblestone square, Mara Rose had always been fascinated by the giant black marble statue that stood in front of Beacon's grand tower. The four women in the centre of the Beacon Academy, each taking a different position, staring out into the distance. Ever since she locked eyes with each of the inanimate statues in first year, she only had questions and curiosities. The bronze plaque, slightly withered away from time, didn't tell her much, only commemorating the "heroes of Remnant".

Who were they? Why did they deserve such a title? What was so remarkable about them that they a had a memoriam in one of the most prestigious combat academies in the world?

For many months, these curiosities annoyed her, enough to stay in the back of her mind, but never warranting interest enough for a proper investigation. However, on a particularly warm summer evening, Mara found herself sitting on one of the benches that looked onto the statues, looking upon them with contemplation. This summer, Mara decided to stay in the dorms of Beacon. Not because she had no family to go back to, or any particularly big problems waiting for her back home. As a matter of fact, she got on very well with her parents and younger siblings.

However, she would soon be starting her fourth and final year at Beacon, with the hopes of graduating and going straight into the huntsman trade.

Though a long time away, she didn't want to leave. This was her home now. She had built a life for herself, a good one, full of happy memories.

She looked back up at the four monoliths, crouched and weapons bared, as though ready to combat an enemy Mara couldn't see. She inspected them, as she did so many times before, wondering about their lives.

"Lovely evening for a walk, wouldn't you say, Ms Rose?" A voice, old and tender, came to the left side of Mara. She snapped out of her day dream to look up at the tall, slim figure of professor Ozpin, garbed in his usual green suit, ironed to perfection, as well as his accompanying cane and mug of unintelligible hot drink, the thin trail of steam the only indication to the cup's contents.

"Hello, professor," she replied with a timid smile. Though usually anxious at the best of times with the majority of people, she grew close with the headmaster of the school. If it wasn't for the huge age gap, as well as the student-teacher relationship, she would have considered him a friend.

"Do you mind if I sit with you?" he asked politely, motioning to the seat next to Mara.

"OH! Please!" She quickly moved her affairs to the floor, as Ozpin sat next to her.

"Thank you. I do apologize for bothering you. Old bones though," he half laughed to himself, and Mara simply nodded, finding his presence a comfort more than a nuisance. She went back into her daydream, investigating the statue, until Professor Ozpin broke the silence once again.

"Have you ever wondered who these four young ladies are?" Ozpin whispered. Mara turned to her professor, a little confused. Though she wasn't sure how, he always seemed to have a talent for reading her mind. She was almost unsure if she had heard the question, as Ozpin was staring towards the statues, as though in deep thought…and perhaps a little regret.

"I suppose," Mara shrugged, though her curiosity was now flourishing, an excitement she never knew she could have on the topic.

"Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna, Weiss Schnee, and their leader, Ruby Rose, your great grandmother,"

Mara was floored by this, looking at her mentor in astonishment. He gave a sly, small grin, and nodded towards the small woman at the front, the first one to grab Mara's attention all those years ago. She had a long cape, which seemed to be frozen in the light breeze, and a large combat scythe held perpendicular to her back, short hair flashed over her large eyes.

"At least, that's what they were known as back then,"

Mara looked at the group in surprise. A lot of her friends could trace back their lineage to famous warriors and hunters, but she never would have imagined she would have been related to the most important warriors of the millennia. She had heard the name before, but she purely believed the same surnames to be purely coincidental. And she would have never pictured her tiny gran-gran - hunched over, frail, and on death's door – to be the young, talented warrior. She zoned back into reality, hearing Ozpin seemingly go off about nothing.

"-I still find it remarkable that dust technology has reached the point of letting same sex couples have children of their own, truly remarkable,"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Oh, I apologize," he half chuckled to himself, climbing back up to his feet. "You probably don't want to her an old man rambling off; I shall just leave you to your peace,"

"Wait, you need to tell me more!" At this point, Mara shot to her feet, almost begging at this point.

"If you wish to know more about your family history, I would recommend searching for these titles," Mara was witness again to Ozpin's talent for reading minds, as he gestured for her scroll, which she eagerly gave, full of intrigue. He typed for a couple of minutes before handing it back to the young woman.

"Well, I best make my leave. If you have any more questions, you know where to find me,"

 **Oo0oo**

The next morning, Mara stood outside of the huge school library a few minutes before it was due to open. She would've went the evening prior, had the library not already been closed, opening up later and closing earlier during the long summer months. That wasn't enough to curb her now raging curiosity though. Her scroll still had access to a wealth of knowledge to go off of. She had the four names to go with.

A long evening of research on the net, and a long morning of research via Beacon's library books provided her with all the answers to her long awaited questions. Indeed, it confirmed that the two couples were among the first of same sex couples to have their own biological children with the aid of then-newly developed dust technology, a process that could turn female eggs into sperm, and inversely as well. Other than that, their personal lives and careers as huntresses proved to be filled with accomplishments. Her great grandmother, now Weiss Rose-Schnee, was almost singlehandedly responsible for taking over her father's company. However, instead of carrying on the vile ways of her father and younger brother, she completely turned the company around, making conditions safer and providing equal rights for the race. She even gave the oldest members of Faunus staff small share in the company, to provide for their families. Most of the dust mines were closed down, deemed too dangerous, and Weiss moved the company more towards researching dust instead of acquiring it, looking more into the medical and scientific rather than military applications. She died peacefully in her sleep the night Mara was born.

Her two great grandaunts, Yang Xiao Long, and her wife, Blake Belladonna Xiao-Long, also were famous in their own right back in the day. The White Fang – a religious/ protest group advocating Faunus rights – once peaceful, turned feral. Over the course of a few years, Blake completely changed the White Fang, but committed the ultimate sacrifice when she faced off against her old mentor, Adam Taurus. Though she defeated the bull Faunus, she would eventually succumb to disease, a side effect of a wound she sustained from Adam's weapon, Wilt and Blush. She died in her late thirties, but not before giving Yang two twins. After advances in Faunus treatment, the White Fang would eventually disband. Yang herself eventually remarried, though she never fully recovered from her wife's passing. She'd go on to raise her children, as well as opening her own combat academy, exclusively for future huntsman and huntresses that specialized in hand to hand combat.

The most remarkable, however, was none other than Mara's direct descendant, Ruby Rose. While each of the three members helped changed the world while conquering their own personal trails, it was Ruby who had been the greatest of the four. She was an excellent and talented leader, who only grew more powerful and deadly with experience. Time and time again, she would prove to be the powerful force that brought her team back together when outside forces threatened to shatter them. Her claim to fame was imprisoning the lady of darkness, Salem, within her own dimension, along with many of her Grimm creations, eventually leading to the extinction of Grimm within the human realm.

Mara looked at her, research dumbfounded.

The only thing left was to give Gran Gran a phone.

 **Oo0oo**

A small woman loomed over an old headstone, her ripped and tattered cape flapping wildly behind her. Once every week, she would come up to the resting place of her old love, telling her about everything going on in her life, finishing every visit with the promise that she would see her soon. A single tear fell, and she was about to say her goodbyes, when a violent buzzing brought her back to reality. She reached a frail hand into her pocket to retrieve her scroll. Though she rarely used technology nowadays, it was convenient for getting in touch with family and what little of her friends remained.

"Hello?"

Such as her great granddaughter.

"Hi Gran-Gran, it's me, Mara," a sweet, and somewhat excited voice piped up over the speaker, bringing a smile to Ruby's face. Her voice reminded her a lot of herself so many decades ago.

"Oh hello, dear, how are-"she started in her usual polite manner, but was cut off by Mara's voice.

"Sorry, gran, I don't mean to be rude, but how come you never told me about your past?"

All at once, everything came flooding back to the old woman's mind. Like a dried sponge tasting water for the first time, her mind replayed all of her younger memories. The terror. The pain. The violence. The love. The laughs.

It was the most bittersweet sensation she had ever experienced.

"I suppose old Oz told you, eh?" she let out a single, dry, humorless chuckle, before continuing on, old scars stinging like new wounds, bringing a tear to the old woman's eye. "Listen, my dear, there's only so much old books and stories can tell you. I lost so many friends along the way. It's not something I like to talk about,"

A moment of silence was shared across the line.

"…I'm sorry," Mara replied, genuine sympathy and regret dripping off her voice.

"You're quite alright, my lovely…"Ruby smiled, and looked towards the headstone of her old wife, laughing once again to herself. Had Weiss still been alive, she would have been all too happy to share this knowledge with Mara in the hope of preventing history repeating itself, emotions aside. She took a deep inhale of hair, and with a smile, spoke up again. "I tell you what. If you truly care to hear the full story, let me know when you come round next, I'll make some cookies,"

"I'd like that"

 **(Notes: A short idea of how I expect to the grand finale of RWBY to go by. I hope you guys enjoy it! I didn't put a lot of planning into this one, but tell me what you think! Thanks again and ADIOS!)**


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